Duke vs. Pittsburgh: Biggest TAkeaways

The Duke Blue Devils rolled past the Pittsburgh Panthers by a final score of 75-53. After two rough outings from Kyle Filipowski, he came alive today with 26 points and 10 rebounds while shooting 92% from the field.

It only took Duke about 10 minutes to take control of this game. They were dominant tonight and looked like a team on a mission to prove something. Even while up at 34 at one point, Duke was relentless on the defensive end.

In a game that left many Duke fans excited about their team, here are my biggest takeaways from this game. 

Duke’s Three-Point Shooting is Legit 

Duke made nine three-pointers in the first half. The scary part is that five Duke players made threes during that stretch.

Duke has shooters all over the court, and when they are together, like tonight, Duke is not a team anyone wants to see. While Duke cooled off in the second half and only made two more three-pointers, the damage to Pitt had already been done.

Duke averages about 7.2 three-pointers made per game. I don’t think it would be a stretch to believe this team could make 10+ three-pointers per game while keeping their same 36.6% shooting from the three-point line.

Jeremy Roach and Jared McCain shoot 46.7% and 43.8% from the three-point line, respectively. However, they only average about 2–3 three-point attempts per game.

I would love to see this number rise from Duke’s two best shooters to closer to 4-5 threes attempted per game.

Duke looks at their best when they are playing fast and in transition. This team can push the ball up the court and find open threes as a result. Tonight was a glimpse of how deadly this team can be from behind the arc, especially in the transition.

I believe if Duke wants to make a serious tournament run, the three-ball will need to be going in at a similar rate to what it was against Pitt. Duke lacks interior size and will need to make up for that from the three-point line.

Duke’s Ball Movement Needs More Consistency 

If you were a Duke fan and watched the game versus Pitt, you would be surprised to see the ball movement you saw last night. That has not been a nightly occurrence for Duke.

Duke was above their average of 16.6 assists last night with a total of 19, but the biggest trend I saw was that the ball was not sticking with any one player.

Often, when I watch Duke on the halfcourt, I feel like I’m watching an NBA system offensively.

The offense is predicated on isolation and pick-and-roll action between a guard and a big. You’ll watch as a Duke guard holds the ball late in the shot clock, calls for the pick, and then forces something downhill or kicks to a not-open shooter.

Tonight was the opposite of what I’ve seen from Duke this year.

The ball didn’t stick at all. It swung around the top, forcing the defense to continuously shift until a hole opened. On drives, Duke players were quick to decide: either take it to the rim or draw two and kick out.

On kick-outs from drives, Duke was quickly swinging the ball back around the top and forcing the defense to fly out to shooters. This led to easy drives for Duke and allowed shooters to float and lose their defender on drives to spot up for an open shot.

Duke’s ball movement against Pitt was the best I had seen all year, and I believe it had a huge impact on their ability to shoot.

If Duke continues to move the ball the way we saw tonight, with how many shooters they can have on the court at once, they can be a very dangerous team come March.

It will be interesting to see if this trend for Duke continues or if we will see them regress to their isolation and pick-and-roll-dominated offense.

Duke’s Perimeter Defense Can Be Their Identity 

I’ve been questioning all season what this Duke team’s identity is. What is this team going to hang its hat on every game?

That answer was solved tonight, and that answer is their perimeter defense.

Carlton Carrington and Blake Hinson, Pitt’s two leading scorers, were held to a staggering 7-24 shooting tonight from the field. McCain and Roach can set the tone from the three-point line and on the defensive end.

Each of them averages about a steal per game, but it’s their defense that doesn’t go in the stat sheet that is the most impressive.

Coach Jon Scheyer said tonight that he believed this was the best defensive game they had played all season, and while I agree, I’m starting to notice a trend in Duke’s defense.

When looking back on Duke’s games, I thought maybe Duke has guarded around the perimeter better than I thought. Maybe they did limit star players to bad games.

It wasn’t so much that they limited the star players’ point total, but each time Duke guards made them as inefficient as they could.

Against Michigan State, Duke allowed Tyson Walker to score 22 points. However, it took him 17 shots to get to 22 points.

Against Baylor, Duke allowed RayJ Dennis to score 17 points. However, it took him 16 shots to get 17 points.

Against Arizona, Duke held their leading scorer, Caleb Love, to 3-10 shooting and 11 total points.

Duke’s ability to make guards inefficient scorers should be the identity of this team. Not every night is the three-ball going to be falling. Being able to rely on your defense in those games is what allows you to escape a winner.

This team is a run-and-gun, shoot-early, and often team that is going to get a ton of shots up and allow the other team a ton of shots. However, Duke’s ability to make star guards inefficient can be the difference in these games, especially come tournament time.

Duke looked great against Pitt and will look to continue their success this Saturday versus Georgia Tech. It will be interesting to see if the ball movement and three-point shooting we saw tonight continues or leaves the Blue Devils as they travel back home.

Duke vs. Georgia Tech at 2 p.m. PST on Saturday, January 13.